Deal with the Devil
by Wilhelmina Bonfiglio
Summary: To save her marriage and freedom, Selina makes a deal with the devil herself, Amanda Waller, in exchange for clearing her name once and for all. But an unspeakable betrayal will have her questioning who the real enemy is. Meanwhile Bruce tracks down a Copy Cat killer while trying to learn the identity of the enigmatic adversary threatening to expose their secrets. Rebirth universe.
1. Prologue

This is a love story, according to Selina Kyle.

At least the closest thing to it by Gotham City standards. Harley Quinn thought it was the most romantic story of all time; the Bat and the Cat. It was like the princess marrying prince. If only she knew. There were no happily ever afters in Gotham. Just like everything else in Gotham, love was hard, everchanging, and came in many forms. The consequences of which could cost you everything. That had been a hard lesson for Selina to learn.

When she was young, the idea of selfless was a completely foreign concept to her. A broken girl from a broken home she learned early on that love was something to be preyed upon and taken advantage of if you'd let it. So long as you loved anyone other than yourself, someone had something to exploit you with. To Selina, love had been a weakness, a prison, a price to pay that she could not afford.

The idea of mutual love was an absolute fairytale as far as she was concerned. That someone could see past all her flaws and all those mistakes to see the best in her. That someone could make her a better and happier person and she could do same, seemed like something that could only be scripted in a movie. Maybe that's why it was so hard for her. She had to reprogram herself to learn what love was, how to accept it, and how to give it back. She was still learning, still making mistakes but she was coming around.

This is a detective story, according to Bruce Wayne.

It was nothing more than a mystery to be solved with clues to follow and villain to be unmasked at the end. Love stories did not take place in Gotham. But there was more to this story than clue finding and conspiracy uncovering. After all, they hadn't risked it all to solve a mystery.

Love was a different creature for Bruce than it was for Selina. It wasn't that he didn't believe in it, it was just that he didn't think that it was even a remote possibility for him. He saw the way his parents had loved each other, the absent-minded affections after all those years. But Bruce wasn't like his parent. He was a difficult person to love. He was stubborn, obsessed, and seemingly stuck in his ways. He was still that broken children that made some imprudent promise to his dead parents while he wept over their bloodied and bullet-riddled corpses. It was textbook arrested development, and who could ever love a man like that? Who could possibly understand?

 _Broken orphans dressed as animals, jumping from the rooftops. It's why, in some ways, we work. Why we work together, I mean. Why when we kiss the pain goes away. How for just a second, just that second...the pain is gone_.

Bruce wouldn't say that he and Selina fell in love at first sight; it was more like the invisible bond of two aching souls reaching out for each other at the same time. An instantaneous connection that negated all that fact reason and logic. It was love. Pure and simple love. Well, maybe not so simple.

This was Gotham City, after all. Nothing ever was.

* * *

This story will be based on the Rebirth comics and everything that could have been. A thousand thanks for the invaluable help of my wonderful beta.

Feedback is greatly appreciated!

-WB


	2. Every Epilogue is a Prelude

Catwoman sprinted across the rooftop as fast as her leather-constrained legs would let her. She was used to the physical requirements of the job, but it was adjusting to the suit that was giving her problems. She wished that could drop the bag of loot that was weighing her down, but she knew the consequences of a failed mission would be dire. Her breathing became labored and she knew she was going to hit the wall soon, but the police were gaining on her.

She stopped and quickly raised her whip wrapping it around a support beam above her.

"I've got you!" The pursuing officer yelled, meaty hand closing around her ankle.

In a moment of panic, Catwoman grabbed the gun that had been holstered at her side and pulled the trigger before she could aim. The bullet hit the officer either in the shoulder or in the neck. The flash from the gun blinded her for a moment so she couldn't tell. She prayed it was the shoulder.

The other officer ran past his injured partner and charged after Catwoman as more officers began to pour onto the rooftop. He pulled out his service pistol and pointed it toward the spot where Catwoman was about to leap from.

"Drop your weapon!" He yelled gruffly.

Instead of taking the opportunity to jump off the roof and escape, she turned around in a crouch and shot at him. Another officer shoved him to the ground, the bullet narrowly missing his head. The officers quickly got to their feet and ran to where Catwoman had just been, just in time to see her leap from the building.

Catwoman fumbled for her whip as she began to freefall uncontrollably. She kept telling herself not to panic as the whip seemed to be stuck. She managed to yank it out just in time, and wildly lashed at the air, missing the flagpole she had been aiming for. Perhaps accidentally, the whip latched onto an elevated construction beam. It slowed her fall, but her weight snapped the whip as she bounced upwards. She tumbled ungracefully into an alley, scraping her belly and chin and sending her plunder flying across the alley floor in different directions.

"Umpf," she groaned upon landing.

She laid there for a moment to catch her breath. She didn't hear any police sirens around, which was a good sign. Still, she knew they weren't far behind. She needed to get out of there before they had a chance to catch up to her. Ignoring her bleeding knee and torn suit, she quickly began to gather the items that had fallen out of her bag.

"They wouldn't have been able to get an accurate aim if you had just dived instead wasting time shooting people," a voice from nowhere suddenly said. "That was your first mistake."

"W-who said that?" Catwoman searched around frantically for the voice.

There was a figure high above her leaning against the fire-escape and lurking in the shadow. She couldn't see their features.

"Nice outfit," the figure said stepping into the moonlight. "Too bad for you, it looks better on me."

With that, 'Catwoman' took off running. Selina rolled her eyes before pouncing off the fire-escape and landing in a crouching position. Her descent was far more graceful than the other's had been.

"Here, kitty, kitty," she taunted as she followed the other Catwoman, while slowly uncoiling her whip.

Stupid girl. This alley was a dead end. Rule number one of working the East End: always know your territory. The first Catwoman skidded to a halt almost colliding into the brick wall. Having disposed of her whip on the way down, she reached for the only weapon she had left: the gun. Selina threw the end of her whip towards her, wrapped it around her wrist, and yanked her so they were mere inches away from each other. The gun clattered to the ground.

"Gotcha," she smirked.

"You wish, you old bitch!"

Catwoman used her free arm to elbow Selina right underneath her chin. Selina's head snapped back, and she bit down on her tongue. Her mouth filled with blood. The whip slackened and this time Catwoman didn't wait to start running.

"Old?!" Selina said incredulously to herself as she took off after Catwoman.

She was mad at herself for letting an amateur get a hit in, but now that she had her in her sights she couldn't let her get away. Running at full speed, Selina dove into Catwoman, sending them both tumbling to the ground. They tussled for a moment, but Selina was able to overpower the imposter. She straddled her and pinned her wrists to the ground.

"Who-"

"Freeze!" A voice yelled interrupting before she could even begin her interrogation.

Suddenly a group of four or five police officers ran to the scene with their guns drawn.

"Whoa, there's two of them!"

Both Cat-women slowly came to their feet with their hands up. The police officers, momentarily stunned, seemed at a loss for what to do.

"Uh," the one who seemed to be in charge said. "Take them both. We'll sort this out at the station."

He kept his gun on them as two subordinates timidly stepped forward. With her hands still raised Selina was pushed face first into the wall.

"Catwoman you are under arrest for larceny, resisting arrest, and one count of murder of a police officer in the line of duty."

He grabbed her wrist and pulled it behind her back, turning her around so she was facing him.

"Sorry, Officer, but…" she said taking a page from the imposter's book and jabbing him in the jaw with her elbow. "You've got the wrong cat!"

Before the other officer could react, Selina launched herself into the air, grabbing onto the rusty railing above the alley. As she hoisted herself up she could hear rapid gunshots in the alley. She leaned over to see one officer on the ground clutching his leg while the others had ducked for cover. The imposter must've gotten ahold of one of their guns. She could see a shadow running across the rooftop.

Without a second thought Selina dashed up the fire-escape practically launching herself up each set of steps. She made it to the roof just in time to see the figure, already two buildings ahead of her, before disappearing into the shadows.

xXx

Selina woke up the next morning irritated. Irritated at the far too bright sunlight for waking her up this early. Irritated at the pain radiating from her jaw and the gnarly looking bruise she was sure had formed overnight. Mostly she was irritated that someone was out there masquerading as her, and she just let them slip right through her grasp.

The Copy Cat, as Selina called her, had come to Selina's attention three weeks ago when it had been reported that Catwoman had been caught on camera during a robbery at Dagget Industries. Warrants were being put out for her arrest. Imagine! Some imposter was out there sullying her already sullied name, and she simply couldn't have that. She had enough of her own legal problems without taking on someone else's thank you very much. She needed to find out who the Copy Cat was and stop her before more people wound up dead.

Selina quickly dressed in a robe and went downstairs for a quick breakfast. Bruce was away on a mission for the League that she hadn't bothered to learn the details of, which meant she would full use of the cave. It wasn't that Selina didn't like to work with him, quite the contrary. It was just that he tended to hover when she was working on her own investigations and offer unsolicited advice. It was one of his less endearing qualities.

Alfred was already in the kitchen by the time Selina made it downstairs.

"Good morning, Alfred." She not noticing the solemn look on his face. "Breakfast looks wonderful and we all appreciate your cooking, it's just that I'm in a rush so I'll just have a coffee."

"Mrs. Kyle-"

"Before you ask, no I did not catch the Copy Cat, but I was this close. She got away, but I'll make damn sure to get her next time," she said, as she prepared her cup of coffee.

"Mrs. Kyle if you would just-"

"I know what you're going to say but she shot two cops last night. She's out of control and I can't stop until she's off the streets...God, Bruce's do-gooderness is starting to rub off on me." She sighed. "Oh well. Can't be helped. I'll need-"

"Selina Kyle!" Alfred shouted interrupting her rant.

Selina was slightly taken aback, but Alfred's face didn't soften. It was then that Selina realized how anxious he appeared.

"Mrs. Kyle," he lowered his voice even though she was sure none of the boys were home right now. "I would hate to disrupt your investigation, but a very urgent matter has been brought to my attention."

Selina's eyebrow furrowed. "More important than catching a cop killer?"

"I'm afraid so. Someone called last night-a reporter named Glenn Reed-asking for Master Wayne."

Selina almost laughed in relief. "Well that's-"

"There's more," Alfred continued. "He wanted to speak to Master Bruce about an article—a profile—he is writing about him. When I told him that he was out of the country and unavailable to take calls he...he asked if he could speak with 'the Mrs.'."

Selina's blood ran cold. Alfred was the only one person who called her "Mrs." It was a controlled secret. The only people who knew were those they wanted to know. They had been so careful. Done in private in the middle of the night with only Alfred serving as a witness. She wasn't even sure their marriage was one hundred percent legal.

She knew that this would happen eventually. It was nothing short of a miracle that they had managed to have a year and half of undisturbed and peaceful marital bliss. Well, peaceful by Gotham standards. She knew from the beginning that it couldn't be avoided forever. They both did; though they never really talked about it. Even in the happiest of days it hung over them. They and the ghost of things yet to come; an awkward, silent threesome.

"Is that all he said?" Selina's words came out stiff; probably from the shock.

Alfred nodded once. "He said he would call back in the morning."

As if on cue the phone on the kitchen wall began to ring, slightly startling Alfred. Selina and Alfred stared at as if it had just come to life. Alfred cleared his throat before making his way across the kitchen and picking up the phone.

"Wayne Residence," he answered in his usual greeting. "Hhmm… hhmm…I see…No, he is not available at the moment…No…I will relay the message. Thank you."

Selina could feel her heart racing. The time that it took Alfred to hang up the phone and turn back toward her was perhaps the longest four seconds of her entire life.

"That was the West-Reeves school calling about Master Damian's repeated tardiness."

Selina let go of the breath she didn't realize she had been holding. She cursed under her breath. This was just great! As if she didn't have enough problems to worry about. She considered calling Bruce and telling him to come home right away but squashed that idea in a Gotham City minute. Instead she told Alfred that she would deal with it without telling him what she planned to do. She wasn't even sure herself at this point, but she knew that this could not wait until Bruce came home.

Disguised in a beige wool trench coat, large cat-eye sunglasses, and long blonde wig she left the manor soon after, but not before going down to the cave to dig up a bit of information on Glenn Reed, the reporter. She made it downtown in an hour, parked her Mercedes in the alley in the safe house closest to her location, and took the subway the rest of the way. If she had been under the cloak of night Selina would've just gone up the fire escape and broken in through a window, but because it subtly was more practical for the daytime. She waited outside the building and slipped in through the front entrance as someone was leaving the building. A classic city trick. Deciding to forgo the elevator to avoid potential security cameras she took the emergency staircase to the sixth floor.

Apartment 611. Apartment 612. Apartment 613. Finally; apartment 614. Selina glanced around to make sure no one was watching her. Though the building had been restored sometime in the last decade Selina estimated that the lock on the door had been installed in the 1920s. she picked it with a hair pin in three seconds flat and slipped inside.

She stepped into the dimly lit apartment, softly shutting the door behind her. Once she was sure that she was alone she took the opportunity to sweep the apartment. There didn't appear to be anything discernable about the place. There were a few pieces of mismatched furniture in the living room, an empty cereal bowl on the table, and a stack of newspapers sitting on an ottoman. Selina didn't know exactly what she had been expecting or even what she should be looking for. A conspiracy board? Bruce had more of a mind for investigation.

She looked through the bedrooms and didn't find anything—she didn't know—incriminating, she supposed. All in all, it seemed like a typical apartment belonging to a regular, broke twenty-five-year-old reporter. A small chausie cat emerged from her hiding place underneath of the couch and began weaving between Selina's legs, meowing. Selina went into the kitchen and filled her bowl with kibble. The cat purred in appreciation.

"Can I go back to what I was doing? Is that okay with you?" She asked the cat, who glanced up from her bowl in response.

Selina was becoming frustrated. This Glenn person seemed to know about her and Bruce, but how? They made sure they covered their tracks. He had to have something on them, but she was coming up empty. Perhaps he was keeping whatever information he had on them at his office. Just when Selina was starting to think that this had been a huge waste of time, her eye caught a laptop sitting on a chair underneath of a newspaper in the kitchen.

"Bingo."

She turned on the computer which needed password. One did not become a world class jewel thief in the twenty-first century without learning some impressive hacking skills. Years ago, she had developed an app that could input safe codes and computer passwords in a matter of minutes, but unfortunately for her, she had left her high tech gear at home, not having anticipated a need for it. The cat jumped up into Selina's lap.

She tried Glenn's date of birth, the name of the school that he had graduated from, and his mother's maiden name, all of which she had learned during her impromptu background check before she had left. No luck.

"What's the password? Do you know?" She said to the cat, stroking her behind the ear.

The cat purred.

"Hm."

Selina glanced around for any clues. That's when she noticed two framed pictures of the cat sitting on the desk in the living room. She lifted the cat's collar then typed its name into screen. The computer dimmed before lighting up.

Selina snorted. "Didn't anyone tell Glenn that 'Muffy' is a long-haired cat name."

Selina quickly found the article saved in a word document. She skimmed through it along with the rest of the files he had been collecting on her and Bruce. His investigative material was surprisingly extensive for some wannabe journalist barely out of school with no major publications to his name. They were mostly articles from the time of Selina's arrest and conviction, Bruce's parents' deaths, and conspiracy websites. Regardless, the less he knew the better.

"Oops," Selina said deleting all the backup copies that had been stored on his cloud.

Still, she wanted to make sure she didn't overlook anything important in her haste. She would have to do a more thorough search of it later. She left the apartment taking the laptop with her. The drive back to the manor had been tense, and the heavy traffic jam along the way did nothing to improve her mood. It seemed like she was attracting a lot of bad luck these days. She just needed to get back to the manor and finish dealing with this, so she could get back to tracking down the Copy Cat. She didn't need this distraction.

She pulled up in front of the gate and got out of her car to input the passcode.

"Hey!" a voice from behind her yelled. "Hey!"

She turned around to see a young, average looking man running up to her.

"Selina Kyle, right?" Selina felt a moment of panic but managed to keep it off her face. "The name's Glenn. Glenn Reed. I'm a reporter for the _Gotham Gazette_. I was hoping to get a chance to talk to you. I called last night and gave my number to your butler. I decided to just wait out here since I didn't hear back this morning."

"I'm sorry. You have the wrong person."

There was something about his smile. It wasn't the sinister grin she it had been picturing. It was genuine and accompanied by wide, excited eyes.

"Right. Sorry," he said, though Selina could tell that he didn't believe her. "Your name is?"

"Bonfiglio. Wilhelmina Bonfiglio."

"Well, you must know Bruce Wayne very well if you have his gate code. May I ask how you know him?"

"No," Selina said more harshly than she had intended. "You may not."

He put his hands up in capitulation.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to intrude. I've been writing an article about some of the wildest rumors about him and it's really taken on a life of its own. As someone with sort of relationship to him, what do you think about the one about Bruce Wayne using his money to hide out the Catwoman?"

Selina snorted. "I think people shouldn't believe everything they read on the internet."

With that she turned to leave.

"It's just," Glenn said, stopping her. "That's what I thought at first but the more I looked into the more it started to make sense. I was hoping to get a comment from Wayne or _someone_ close to him."

Selina heard it as a threat.

"I can give you the number to his publicist."

Glenn shook his head. "I found something I think Wayne is going to find very interesting and I thought he'd want me to bring it to him first."

Glenn began to pull a folder out of the bag he had been carrying and held it out to Selina. She eyed it suspiciously before accepting it. Selina's stomach dropped, and her heart began to race. How? How was this possible? They had been so careful. They made sure they covered up their tracks. How did this nobody reporter from some second-rate gossip rag get a copy of their goddamn marriage certificate?!

"Where did you get this?" Selina asked softly.

He shrugged. "Anonymous source. It would be quite a story. Bruce Wayne running off and marrying a wanted assassin. I know the fallout would be huge and I was hoping to make a deal."

Selina chuckled darkly. "Let me get this straight. You are saying that Bruce Wayne, one of the wealthiest, most powerful men in the world is secretly married to someone who confessed to the slicing the throats of 237 people, and your plan is to blackmail this person?"

"No, not Wayne. _Her_. Selina Kyle," he said looking her straight in the eyes now.

Selina's eyes darkened. The time for games was over.

"Well if he _is_ married to the person you say then you know what she is capable of, and I would surmise that she isn't someone you'd want to cross," she said menacingly.

"Cross? No, you misunderstand. I don't want to threaten her. I mean I'm not insane. I want to do an interview with her."

Selina couldn't help but laugh. " _An interview_? What for?"

Glenn didn't answer her immediately he seemed to be watching her reaction.

"Because I don't believe she killed all of those people, and that's the story I want to report."

Selina looked surprised but didn't say anything.

Glenn knew it was a risk coming here, and if he was wrong about her he could be making a deadly mistake right now. He wasn't sure whether her threats were empty or if she would really hurt him. She wasn't the other guy, after all. He had heard stories about how Batman was all talk and no action when it came to civilians. But then again, he had also heard stories about Batman sending people into comas just for looking at him wrong. It all depended on which part of the legend you believed.

But this wasn't Batman. Glenn had spent a lot of time researching Catwoman in the last few months. Her criminal record was extensive, to say the least, but she had only been charged with a violent crime once: 237 counts of murder. A FOIA request that had taken six weeks to secure had revealed that Catwoman had quietly pleaded guilty and sentenced to wait out the rest of her life on death row. Until she escaped, of course.

Still there was something about the case that felt off to Glenn. Prior to the alleged murders Selina Kyle had never been charged with a violent crime. Mostly grand larceny, breaking and entering, criminal mischief, and a few criminal conspiracy charges sprinkled here and there. His research had indicated that Catwoman had also never participated in any major crime event involving Gotham's most notorious rogues. Rumor had it that she even had helped Batman put an end to the carnage during the War of Jokes and Riddles and the gang wars. How did a morally ambiguous jewel thief go from heisting the Gotham Met to slashing the throats of more than 200 people?

It didn't make any sense and it didn't sit right with Glenn. He had managed to bribe a desk sergeant at the Gotham Police Department for her case file. During her confession she didn't provide any specific details about the murders. She appeared to not even know the names of the people she had slaughtered. It seemed to Glenn that she was just the Gotham Police Department's scapegoat. Someone had to go down for this and she was offering herself up, so problem solved. Why she confessed to a crime she did not commit was the real mystery.

True; Glenn had been given the story of a lifetime, but the story was incomplete. It wasn't honest, and Glenn had every intention of getting to the bottom of it.

"Look this story could make my career, but this isn't the real story," he said. "I thought that maybe _Catwoman_ and I could make this work for each other. You know? I shelve this story and once she resolves her uh...legal problems I get an exclusive interview."

Seeing that Selina still looked skeptical he pulled out a thumb drive out of his pocket and offered it to her.

"Here," he said placing it in her hand. "This is everything I've got about her case. Please give this to _Mr. Wayne_ as I'm sure with his considerable assets he will be able to get this to Selina Kyle somehow. My number is in here there if this would something of interest to her."

"I'll give him the message," she said.

"Great. Thanks. It was great meeting you, _Ms. Bonfiglio_."

With that Glenn headed back to his car, parked on the opposite side of the street. Selina stared at the thumb drive he had given her before slipping it into her pocket.

Precarious situations were nothing new to Selina. She'd be born into one of the darkest parts of Gotham City and spent her entire life clawing her way out. She had almost managed it; or so she thought. She had finally gotten a tiny slice of heaven but her new life had been built on pillars of salt. A castle made of sand. Never in her wildest imagination did she think that her future would rest in the hands of twenty-five-year-old journalist.

Selina hadn't had enough time to do a lot of research on Glenn. Not nearly as much research as he had done on her. It was impossible to say what his true intentions were. It could just be putting her on. He could've just been trying to get her to trust him and was planning on sending the story to his publisher tomorrow morning. This was not lost on Selina, but what other choice did she have. If he was being sincere it would at least buy her some time. That's all she wanted: more time. If it couldn't be forever, then let them have just one more day.

* * *

References: Catwoman (v5) #1


	3. The Secret Life of Bruce Wayne

_**The Secret Life of Bruce Wayne  
By Glenn Reed**_

 _Many of those in Gotham remember where they were when they first heard that Thomas and Martha Wayne had been killed, nearly thirty years later. It was a warm June evening; a night reportedly spent at the movies; The Mark of Zorro starring Tyrone Power. At 9 pm on June 26th Thomas and Martha Wayne were watching the 1940 film with their son, Bruce, who was eight years old at the time. At 10:31 pm calls were made to the Gotham City Police Department about reported gunshots near Park Row. At 10:47 pm both Thomas and Martha Wayne were pronounced dead at the scene._

 _According to a witness statement given by Bruce at the time, they had been the victims of robbery gone wrong. The lives of two of Gotham's most prominent philanthropists were snuffed out a matter of seconds. News of the Waynes' demise hit the local press by morning. Bruce's statement and further cooperation with then Sergeant Detective, James Gordon, enabled the GCPD to identify a primary person of interest and a massive manhunt went underway across Gotham City._

 _Joe Chill was discovered attempting to stow away on a freight train less than 48 hours after the murders, no doubt attempting to get out of Gotham City for good. Not much is known about Joe Chill other than he was a career petty criminal. He immediately confessed and plead guilty to the murders "saving a poor, young boy from any further trauma by having to testify at a criminal trial," Interim CEO of Wayne Enterprises, Kevin Knightly, noted at the time. Joe Chill would be killed during a riot at Blackgate Prison less than a year later._

 _This article, however, does not seek to rehash one of Gotham City's most well-known tragedies. What it seeks to do is answer the question that plagued the minds of many Gothamites thirty years ago, that many continue to wonder to this day. How did the simultaneous murders of both of his parents affect the man that Bruce Wayne grew up to be?_

 _By all accounts Bruce Wayne grew up to be a seemingly well adjusted, albeit typical socialite. He is on the board of his parent's namesake charity, the Wayne Foundation. He pursued an education at Yale University before dropping out in his sophomore year for unspecified reasons. He has spent a lot of time living the type of life the heir to the world's foremost industrial conglomerate would live. He's bought summer homes, dated supermodels, and bought things that are not for sale. Casual acquaintances can recall stories of Bruce Wayne jetting off to France in the middle of a work-day because he felt like having fresh Parisian croissants._

 _To local Gothamites he is known for being as generous as he his idiosyncratic. He has regularly offered to cover the tab of every patron in whatever restaurant he happens to be dining in at the moment. One college intern recounted the time her small talk with Bruce Wayne during a shared elevator ride resulted in him covering the cost of her university tuition and fees._

 _"It was crazy! I talked to him for all of three minutes. I honestly don't remember what I said but I must've mentioned that I was in school. When I called my financial aid department the next week they told me Bruce Wayne had taken care of my fees. It was incredible; he changed my life," student Kerry Tyler told me. The Gotham Gazette was able to confirm this account from the university._

 _The consensus, or at least majority, of Gotham locals see Bruce Wayne as a kind, generous, albeit a bit naïve Gothamite. A recent twitter poll executed by KZB Channel 4 news indicated that the three most used adjectives to describe Bruce Wayne by Gotham Locals are: billionaire, playboy, and philanthropist._

 _His former classmates have different words to describe him._

 _"He was kind of a weird kid," a former classmate from Gotham Preparatory Academy (hereafter Gotham Academy), Igor Kunis, told me in a phone interview. "He was quiet, and I don't think he had a lot of friends."_

 _This seems to be a startling contrast to the extroverted dandy that is a frequent subject of human interest pieces that we know today._

 _"I thought he had anger issues. It was never anything huge; he didn't get into a lot of trouble or anything. It just seemed below the surface. Like he was seething. I don't know. He could be different now," Igor added._

 _Igor recounted a time the then twelve-year-old attacked another classmate. The story goes that during a study period an older peer, Henry Bonnum, approached the young man. Allegedly there was a brief exchange before Bruce leaped over the table, tackled him to the ground, and began punching him._

 _"He just started whaling on him. It was like nothing I'd ever seen. We were all shocked because we never expected that from him. He didn't even get suspended for it."_

 _When asked what exactly Mr. Bonnum had said that triggered such uncharacteristic violence Igor told me, "I never found out. It must've been bad."_

 _Igor's account was corroborated by six other classmates who witnessed the event. When asked for comment we were told by the administrators, "Gotham Preparatory Academy does not publicly comment on individual students; present or past." Henry Bonnum could not be reached for comment._

 _If Bruce Wayne has a history of violence, he has done well to hide it. Nothing notable seemed to happen in Bruce Wayne's life thereafter. His Yale colleagues had no alluring anecdotes to share about the young socialite, other than to say that he was quiet but highly intelligent. As stated previously, Mr. Wayne dropped out of school during his second year despite being at the top of his class._

 _During an infamous episode following his departure from Yale, Bruce Wayne disappeared from the public eye altogether. He was not photographed in public nor was he seen at public events. His longtime employee and close family friend, Alfred Pennyworth, explained briefly to the press at the time that Mr. Wayne was "merely taking a sabbatical. All is well, and he thanks you for your concern." When he reemerged three years later, Mr., Wayne told the Gotham Daily News that he had been backpacking in remote locations._

 _The episode seemed to spark an intense interest with the young mogul. His exploits constantly made the society pages, though he rarely granted personal interviews. A brief engagement to fellow socialite and event planner, Silver St. Cloud, captivated Gotham City. The engagement ended nearly as quickly as it began with both parties remaining silent on the reason for the breakup but both insisting that it was an amicable and mutual decision._

 _This alleged cordialness was questioned when during a tense interview, supposedly about her charity work fostering entrepreneurship for young girls, Ms. St. Cloud let it slip that she had ended their engagement. When asked whether there was any possibility for a reconciliation Ms. St. Cloud was quoted as saying, "There's no reconciling your fiancé falling in love with someone else."_

 _Ms. St. Cloud declined to be interviewed for this article._

 _After the scandal Mr. Wayne's romantic life seemed to perpetually fall into turmoil. He had no other long-term relationships and was never seen at a public event with the same date more than four times. A notable exception was the mysterious Selina Kyle, who at the time was thought to be just another frequent in the upper echelons of Gotham Society. Ms. Kyle had been seen with Mr. Wayne at various events, on oversea trips, and casual night outs for several years. They were described by many as "on-again-off-again" lovers._

 _That is why it came as such a shock to many when Selina Kyle confessed, not only to being Gotham's most infamous jewel thief, the Catwoman, but also the murders of 237 alleged terrorists. As we now know much of Ms. Kyle's criminal past had been committed as a juvenile. Her sealed record prevented detection that a person so close to Gotham's son, was a convicted criminal. According to a source within the GCPD Ms. Kyle was never even considered a suspect for the crimes committed by Catwoman._

 _"She wasn't on our radar at all. If she hadn't confessed, we would've never known."_

 _District Attorney Janice Porter declined to pursue charges against Selina Kyle regarding any alleged crimes she had committed as Catwoman, many of which could not be proven with physical evidence or the statute of limitations to prosecute had expired. It was widely suggested that the District Attorney's office, already handling an overwhelming caseload, simply did not feel the need to pursue additional charges considering Ms. Kyle's guilty plea and death sentence for the murders._

 _Mr. Wayne made no public comment on Ms. Kyle's charges at the time. When asked whether Mr. Wayne was aware of his former paramour's double life his publicist released a statement saying, "Mr. Wayne denies all knowledge and involvement regarding any and all of crimes or alleged crimes in which Selina Kyle has been accused. Mr. Wayne is just as shocked about these revelations as everyone else and asks for privacy during this time."_

 _Selina began to live out the beginning of her sentence in the women's correctional facility of Blackgate Prison but was transferred to Arkham Asylum after only six weeks for repeated acts of violence. As Arkham Asylum is a classified mental health facility, all records regarding inmates and patients are subjected to confidentiality. Not much can be verified about Selina Kyle's behavior during her time there, nor did Bruce Wayne make any reported visits. A guard at Arkham did tell the Gazette that he believes on one occasion they sent each other letters, but this could not be confirmed by the Gazette._

 _It came as a surprise to very few when, in what seems to be tradition for those incarcerated at Arkham Asylum, it was reported that Selina Kyle had broken out and was now on the run. The circumstances regarding her escape are unknown, and there have been no local sightings of Ms. Kyle since. There have been sporadic reports of Catwoman being seen in various parts of Gotham City but ultimately no leads that have resulted in her being rearrested._

 _It has been two years since Selina Kyle was last seen publicly during her sentencing. Notably, even as a fugitive wanted for 237 counts of murder, Ms. Kyle fails to make GCPD's top ten list of most wanted criminals. With competitions between clinical psychopaths such as The Joker and other violent criminals with high probable violence indexes such as Calendar Man and Zsasz, it seems that capturing Catwoman is just not a high priority for the GCPD or the FBI._

 _It was even said that Bruce Wayne was using his considerable wealth to assist Ms. Kyle in evading capture, though that may have been said in jest. The rumor has become somewhat of a popular online meme among Gotham locals and the subject of intense theorizing and investigating by amateur internet sleuths. Dozens of threads on popular unsolved crime websites point to Mr. Wayne's apparent lack of public presence in the last year or so as indication of his involvement._

 _"They disappeared at the same time; I doubt it's a coincidence" EagleEyeDetective27 wrote in a forum on ._

 _A quick observation reveals that Mr. Wayne has indeed made fewer public appearances in the past nearly two years than previously. In October he sent his regards to a fundraiser for the Wayne Foundation, an event he has attended every year since the charity's inception. There may of course be nothing suspicious about Mr. Wayne's public life which has always been tentative. Some attribute this to getting older and finding less of a desire to perform for voyeuristic gratification. He is, after all, one of the wealthiest men on the planet and fame never seemed to truly satisfy him._

 _I met with EagleEyeDetective27, real name Marquis Stanton; a Gotham artist with a degree in forensic psychology. He showed me nearly a year's worth of "investigative material" relating to Mr. Wayne and the whereabouts of Selina Kyle. Mr. Stanton explained that in the last 16 months Mr. Wayne had been photographed on only four occasions with a female associate. On three of those occasions, once at the Gotham Metropolitan Opera in January and twice visiting a local orphanage, Mr. Wayne appeared with a thin blonde woman. He was spotted with a dark-haired brunette in Ibiza last summer. None of the women could be positively identified._

 _Mr. Stanton notes that all of Mr. Wayne's female cohorts have similar facial features and body types; thin and medium height._

 _"Between five-five and five-eight. I'd guess around 130 pounds."_

 _Curiously enough according Selina Kyle's intake information from the time of her arrest lists her height as 5'7 and weight as 125. From the photos provided by Stanton it is impossible to say whether all the women seen with Mr. Wayne are the same person, however they do bear a striking resemblance to Selina Kyle. One could write this off as a mere coincidence or that Mr. Wayne simply has specific physical preferences but given their history one would not be unreasonable to ponder the possibility that Mr. Wayne has been hiding a known thief and wanted criminal in plain sight._

 _I began this report as what was intended to be a mysterious if not tongue-in-cheek article about the wildest theories surrounding Gotham's favorite bachelor. As I went further and further down the rabbit hole I began to realize how little the public knows about who Bruce Wayne really is. The man versus the myth. A man who seems to relish in the public eye, a person everyone knows and has an opinion about, yet we know so little about who he really is and what he's capable of._

 _"The heart wants what the heart wants," the popular saying goes; but is it possible that one of the richest and most famous men on the planet met and fell in love with someone from so opposite the side of the tracks? Could this passion enable a man with so much to lose to risk it all, harbor a fugitive, and build a secret life with her?_

 _The answer, as I discovered, is yes._

 _A marriage certificate, provided to the Gazette by an anonymous source, shows that Bruce Wayne married Selina Kyle in a secret ceremony nearly two years ago on July 4th, 2018. The certificate was signed by Judge Wolfman. Legal analysts were able to confirm that the certificate is valid and legal. Judge Wolfman, a known alcoholic, claims to have no memory of presiding over the union. He did releas-_

Bruce had gotten a text message from Selina, sometime around 4 am, telling him to read the email she had just sent him immediately. She always avoided disturbing him when he was on a mission for the League or sleeping. He was currently doing both. Noting the urgency Bruce rolled over onto the side of the bed and reached for his laptop which had been left on the hotel side table.

The email Selina had sent him was encrypted; something she'd never done before. There was nothing in the subject line and the body of the email only instructed him to read the attachment and call her right after.

He didn't have the same chills as Selina did when she had read the article. He knew this wasn't going to stay a secret forever. Underneath the looming sense of dread Bruce felt a tiny bit of relief. At least this meant that they didn't have to look over their shoulders anymore, wondering, worrying, living with this secret. An exposé by a second-rate newspaper was a best-case scenario. It was a lot better than one of rogues, like the Joker, finding out about it and coming after his family.

It was in that moment that he decided that they would be okay no matter. No matter how hard they had to fight, they were going to survive this. Having kept Selina waiting on pins and needles long enough, he dialed her number.

She picked up on the first ring. "Bruce?"

She didn't sound panicked or even surprised; just concerned.

"Did you see it?" She asked.

"Yes."

An uneasy silence followed before she spoke again. "What are we going to do?"

"We knew this could happen one day. We planned for this." He told her.

His mind was already running through the best approach. He had, of course, come up with a dozen different contingency plans the moment they had decided to marry. He was a bit too tired and overwhelmed now to decide the precise course of action, and he would need to get all the information first. They could figure that out later; right now, his priority was placating his wife. He wanted nothing more than to be with her right now the way she'd always been there for him. To hold her hand or play with her hair the way he did when she was feeling upset or unsure about herself. He couldn't offer her physical affection, but he could offer her peace of mind. At least for now.

"I'm coming home," he said. "I'll be there by noon."

"You're on a mission." Her voice sounded strained, almost as if she were holding back tears.

"It's almost over. They can manage without me."

"You have a duty."

Selina hated feeling like Bruce was giving up the fate of world for her. She knew who he was when she agreed to marry him. She knew she'd always come second to the mission and she accepted that; she loved that about him.

"I do," Bruce explained. "But I have a duty to you too. Really it's okay."

He could hear her sigh on the other end of the line. "Earth isn't going to be invaded by intergalactic parademons because you're going AWOL or something like that are they?"

This was her attempt at making light of the conversation. Bruce offered a token chuckle.

"No," he said quietly. "I promise."

That seemed to be enough for her. She told Bruce about her chat with Glenn. Bruce held back a sigh. Confrontation was never his first course of action, but Selina was who she was, and he expected nothing less from her. Where Selina and Bruce both agreed it was good that Selina was able to buy them more time and that they found out about this before the news hit the media. Better to prepare than to be blindsided, though they would have to worry every day from now on about the story getting leaked before they could work out the situation completely.

They were both, however, still concerned that Glenn Reed was not a man of his word. This made them vulnerable. Bruce decided he would also pay Glenn a daytime visit and maybe sweeten his end of the deal. To his credit he had been truthful when he said that he believed that Selina was innocent. The other draft of the article, which Selina found on the laptop that she'd swiped from his apartment before their little chit-chat, went into a great amount of detail questioning the legitimacy of Selina's confession and the GCPD's history of using enhanced interrogation methods to obtain false confessions. They'd have to watch him, but it would do for now.

Bruce was unable to sleep for the rest of night. It wasn't uncommon for him, but his mind couldn't shut off. He hadn't said anything to Selina on the phone, though it could be surmised that she already figured it out on her own, but someone else knew about their secret; whoever had tipped Glenn off. This person had malicious intentions, and something told him that this person wouldn't be so open to negotiations like Glenn.

If the news became public their entire world would be turned upside down. Bruce knew he'd be okay (although his reputation would be permanently besmirched), but it was Selina who would bear the brunt of it. He was the Son of Gotham. His family was the foundation of the city. His lawyers would get him out of any charges for harboring a fugitive, at worst with a fine, but Selina would have to go back on the run or be dragged back to Blackgate for the rest of her life. He couldn't bear the thought.

That had been a source of the most tension and debate between the husband and wife. Selina was innocent, at least of murder. All she had to do to exonerate herself and win back her freedom was turn over Holly Robinson, who she had taken the fall for. They could live their lives free and open, without constantly looking over their shoulders. Selina wouldn't hear of it. He tried to under, but he found himself unable to. He would do the same without hesitating for one of kids or Barbara and Selina, but Bruce didn't trust Holly. There was something about her.

"You just don't like her because you let her get the jump on you, and she almost killed you." Selina had said.

Yes; there was that too.

However, in Bruce's mind it was more than that. Bruce thought it was peculiar that while Selina didn't vacillate to take the fall for Holly and was willing to be put to death for her, Holly was perfectly fine to let her. When they had visited Holly in Khadym they went intending to find a mutual resolution, but Holly was angry at Selina's mere presence. From Bruce's perspective Holly resented Selina, even more so now that she wanted to live her life for herself and be happy without her. Something told him that this was not a new development. He often wondered what their supposed friendship was like outside of Selina's rose-colored glasses. Shared experience was a powerful bond. Bruce hadn't been there when Holly had, as Selina constantly reminded him.

"You can imagine. You can empathize, but you'll never really know what it was like," she would say. "Holly was right there next to me going through it too."

That was the end of it. As far as Bruce knew Holly was still in Khadym being used by Talia al Ghul for God-knows-what. Khadym was a closed country. Even so keeping track of Holly was nearly impossible so long as she was under the custody of the League of Assassins.

They'd have to find a way to clear Selina's name without implicating Holly. That would be Selina's only non-negotiable condition.

Bruce made his travel arrangements as the sun was coming up and sent Victor a message that he wouldn't be returning to the remainder of the mission. He simply said that something had come up that required his immediate attention along with the coordination that he was originally in charge of. Victor didn't follow up immediately which meant that he wouldn't question Batman's sudden and less than ideal departure. Victor had proven himself to be a capable leader and Bruce confided in him that he was planning on phasing himself out of the League altogether. It was probably best that they start to get used to him not being around.

Right now, he needed to focus on his family. He'd see it to that they'd make it out of this mess with as little filth on them as possible. He set the alarm on his phone for one hour and let his eyes drift into a shallow, dreamless sleep.

Back at the manor Selina let herself fall into a similar slumber. Though hers was not so undisturbed. She dreamt that she was on a beach. The sun was setting, and she was standing at the edge of the water as the quiet waves swept across her feet. There was a sandcastle at the edge of the water. Simple but impressively made. The walls were high but smooth. There were no lumps of clustered sand. There were perfectly detailed windows and fixtures. It reminded Selina of Wayne Manor; opulent but full of warmth.

Selina stood there just staring at the sandcastle as it began to dissolve into the water. She looked from the place where the sandcastle rested out onto the horizon as a slow wave swept over the shore and washed it all away **.**


	4. The Blood Oath

Rae Green, Esq. had gotten a phone call from Bruce Wayne late Sunday night telling her to meet him at Wayne Tower first thing Monday morning. He didn't say what he wanted to meet about but when your biggest, wealthiest client calls you in for a meeting, you go without question.

Rae was the top attorney at the firm and first in line to take over as partner once the aging Gary Sheffield was due to retire that year. She had worked most closely with Bruce over the years. In the eight years since her firm began to represent Bruce Wayne, he had been a surprisingly reticent client. For the most part, the attorneys just reviewed contracts and made sure that Wayne Enterprises was adhering to environmental regulations with their latest projects. She had never once gotten a call about Mr. Wayne's personal conduct. Not even a DUI, which was almost standard for her celebrity clientele. She had only even met him on a couple of occasions. Always polite but much more aloof than the media would have you believe; a conclusion that some of the other attorneys at the firm agreed with. They had a running pool on when Wayne would finally snap and what he'd be charged with. As she got on the elevator at Wayne Tower at 8 AM sharp Rae mused that she might find out today.

"Good morning Rae," Kevin, one of the security guards getting off the midnight shift, said as Rae joined him on the elevator.

Rae mumbled something of a greeting while shoving files into her briefcase and balancing a coffee cup. Rae was not at all a morning person and was a little bit more than irritated that Bruce had ordered her to meet him at this ungodly hour. The offices weren't even open for business yet. They rode most of the ride to the forty-third floor in silence with Kevin attempting to make idle small talk, which Rae mostly ignored until she got to her floor.

The fact that Bruce had asked her to meet him on the forty-third floor was odd. The upper portion of Wayne Towers hadn't been remodeled the way the lower half had been, since probably before Bruce had even been born. It lacked the modern, glassy, air-conditioned conference rooms that the legal team usually met in. It didn't have the large windows that overlooked the Gotham skyline. Word amongst Wayne Enterprise staffers was they didn't even have decent WIFI connection. They were mostly just used now for archiving.

Rae followed the fluorescent lights to the end of the hallway to find Bruce already waiting for her.

"I appreciate you meeting me on such notice," he said uncharacteristically brusque. "I've asked you to be here to discuss a matter that required a high level of very discreet legal advisement. This is just a consultation. What is said here is not to go beyond this conference room. Understood?"

It wasn't a question. Rae was confused but nodded in agreement.

"Good. Nevertheless, I'll need you to sign this."

He handed her a piece of paper to sign, which she immediately recognized as a multilateral nondisclosure agreement. The firm had, of course, had non disclosure agreements in effect for all their high-profile clients, but this one more specifically pertained to Rae. It essentially said that if she revealed any information disclosed during this meeting to any third parties, including members of the firm, she would be legally responsible for a breach of contract and he would sue her into her next life.

"Bruce wha-" Rae said confused.

"I promise I will explain," he said. "If you don't want to agree to the terms without knowing what this relates to, I understand. This is something that needs to stay confidential."

Bruce also asked Rae to turn over her cell phone and any other electronic devices she had on hand. Rae signed the papers without another word. If Bruce Wayne was personally requesting their legal services, organizing secret meetings, demanding NDAs, and confiscating phones whatever he did must've been very bad. Still, Rae had gotten to know Bruce over the years and she knew he was a good man. Admittedly, a small part of her intentions for participating were less out of loyalty and more out of morbid curiosity.

Bruce handed her a folder and pushed open the door. The conference room was a lot smaller than the ones they usually met in. It was an entirely no descript space. Just a square conference room table surrounded by chairs and bright overhead lights. She was shocked to see someone else already seated at the table. Rae gasped audibly.

Who in Gotham hadn't heard the rumor that Bruce Wayne was secretly stashing his ex-girlfriend, the confessed murderer, off somewhere. Never in her wildest dreams would she think that it was actually true. They must have had a look of visible shock on their face because Selina took the chance to speak.

"Well, don't be shy," she said. "I don't bite. I Just scratch."

"Have a seat," Bruce said, closing the door behind him.

Rae shuffled towards the table and sat down with her mouth agape as if hypnotized. Bruce joined them at the table. Selina watched her carefully, a mischievous smirk spreading across her rogue lips. She seemed to revel in Rae's discomfort.

Rae had never met Selina Kyle, as she didn't typically involve herself with their client's personal business. All she knew was what had been reported about her. In person, she had an assuming presence that seemed to take up all the room. A dominating and no-nonsense aura. She let an unbearably long moment of silence pass before speaking again.

"Let's cut to the chase, why don't we? As you've probably already guessed, Bruce has agreed to help me with some of my legal troubles, which I'm sure you're already aware about."

"Uh-" Rae started.

Bruce continued, "I want you to review the evidence and get her case reopened."

"What!" Rae blurted out. "Why?"

Rae knew that Bruce was kind of a weird guy but asking his legal counsel to work on behalf of a confessed assassin went completely against everything she knew about him. She briefly wondered if perhaps she was blackmailing him somehow or otherwise coercing him into helping her. They had dated for several years; it wouldn't be a stretch that she had learned something incriminating or embarrassing that he would prefer to keep on the hush.

"Because I'm innocent," Selina said matter-of-factly. "Of murder, anyway."

Rae looked at her as if she had suddenly grown two heads.

"Didn't you just gun down a cop two days ago?"

"She didn't do it."

"That wasn't me."

Bruce and Selina chorused at the same time.

"Look, it's a long story. Lots of details; very boring. The Cliffsnotes version is that someone is masquerading as me and murdering people in the streets. But you let me worry about her. I have plans for her. I just need you deal with the other...misunderstanding," Selina said.

"You confessed!"

"Well I lied. Just hear me out." Selina took a deep breath. "I'll be the first person to admit that I'm no good-"

"That's not-" Bruce tried to interject.

"Bruce is a good person," Selina interrupted shooting him a look. "That's why he wants to help me. But I'm not like him. Look, I'm not going to try to sell you some sob story about growing up orphaned and alone with nothing, because at the end of it, none of that matters. My story isn't all that different from anyone else born in this hellmouth of a city. I'm just another child of the Narrows. I made choices and I chose to become a thief and despite what you may have heard, I'm no Robin Hood."

Selina's eyes lowered to table. She sighed before proceeding.

"I didn't just steal from bad people; I stole from good people too. Mostly for money but sometimes for thrills. I own that. And the reason I'm telling you all of this is because there's no question that I'm a criminal and maybe I do deserve to be locked up at Blackgate, but not for this. This I did not do."

Rae had to admit that she was intrigued. She was still skeptical but intrigued nonetheless.

"Bruce," Rae started without taking her eyes from Selina. "What do you say?"

"Selina told me what happened, and I believe her."

"And you're not being blackmailed into helping her, right?"

"Of course not," Bruce said sounding surprised.

Rae sighed exasperatedly. Bruce was going to owe her big time for this. Grumbling something under her breath she snatched Selina's case file off the table. She spent the next hour going through Selina's criminal record. Selina could see why Bruce trusted her legal know-how; she worked fast.

"The good news is the statute of limitations for the last grand larceny crime is due to expire at the end of the year. If the D.A. doesn't seek an indictment by then you can't be prosecuted."

"Good," Selina said knowing that grand larceny was the least of her problems.

She had learned this past year to be thankful for small blessings, and with her world threatening to unravel, she'd take all the good news she could get.

"The D.A.'s office already passed on this so it's not likely that Porter will seek an arraignment," Rae continued. "But next time you won't be so lucky, so just try to stay out of trouble."

"No promises," Selina said.

Bruce shot her a dirty look.

"It was a joke."

With that settled Rae turned her attention to the main attraction: the murder charges. She briefly went over the evidence while she listened to Selina's recorded police interrogation intensely.

Bruce had been kind enough to let Rae watch Selina's police interrogation from his tablet. Selina had been interrogated for nearly 12 hours. She'd need more time to review the recording in its entirety to get the full story, but the abridged version of Selina's "confession" wasn't as cut and dry as it had been reported in the news. Selina had been brought in by Batman himself so there was no denying that she was indeed Catwoman. She had been impressively calm at first. She even seemed to find the whole thing mildly amusing. Something Rae found odd was that while Selina had readily admitted to committing any thefts she had committed as Catwoman, she initially denied involvement in the murder. She claimed mistaken identity. Whether she was being sincere or just a very good actress, Rae couldn't tell.

Something else that raised red flags was that not once did she take Detective Alves' bait. She never gave away any specifics of any of the murders. As far as Rae could tell she genuinely didn't know anything. Around the ten-hour mark Selina seemed to get irritated but continued to insist she was innocent and that they had the wrong person. It wasn't until the detectives told her exactly how the murders that been committed did she let up.

A knife across the throat.

Rae didn't take Selina Kyle as a woman who was easily surprised or at least not one to show it. She looked shocked at the revelation. She was silent for a while and seemed to be contemplating something. She finally asked to make her phone call and when she returned she confessed just like that. The investigators accepted the confession without much pushback.

Silently watching Rae watching her be questioned by the police brought Selina back to that day. Admittedly when Batman came to arrest her for the murders she should've realized how bad things were for her. She naively believed that the misunderstanding would be easily rectified. He was Batman after all, the world's greatest detective, and even he believed in her innocence. He just needed to prove it. It shouldn't have been a problem, right? He just needed a little more time.

When Detective Alves told Selina that the men had been found with their throats slashed an icy realization washed over her. It was Holly. It all made sense now. The orphanage, the way their throats were cut... Selina had taught her that move back in the day for self-defense. It was different then. It was dangerous, and they were living on the streets. It was survival. Back then she had never imagined that she would do this. She used her one phone call to talk to Holly and she immediately admitted to the whole thing. She sobbed, said she had made a terrible mistake, and begged Selina to help her. Selina always tried to help Holly.

Selina always told Bruce that she was like a big sister to Holly, and like a big sister she took the fall her. Just like a little sister, Holly took advantage and made Selina her sacrificial lamb, the way Bruce saw conferring with anyone Rae stopped the tape and began combing through the so-called evidence against Selina. The evidence against Selina was inconsistent with the facts of the case. The reports all agreed that those who had been murdered had their throats sliced with a knife. The investigators had said that Catwoman's claws had been the weapon of choice. It didn't make any sense. Claw marks wouldn't leave one clean cut; they would've been butchered. The GCPD really did a hack job with this investigation, but in a city like Gotham there was no one to really care.

It was beginning to look like Selina was telling the truth after all.

"Porter deserves to lose reelection for bringing charges with such weak physical evidence," Rae said addressing the room for the first time in over an hour. "You should've taken your chances at trial."

"So, what does this mean?" Bruce asked.

Rae handed Bruce back his tablet.

"I'll need time to really go through everything but as for right now I don't think she did it. If you can provide an alibi for the times of the murders, which detective half-wit failed to ask for during the interview, I can probably get the courts to do a review of the case."

"What's the best-case scenario?"

She shrugged, "Best-case a judge reviews the evidence, or lack thereof. We argue the confession was coerced and get a new trial where a competent attorney will point out the inconsistency of the evidence."

"Excellent," Selina said.

"You'll have to turn yourself in to get retried"

Selina shrugged. "Sure. If things go south I broke out once; I can do it again."

Neither Bruce nor Rae seemed to find that amusing.

"The thing that I can't figure out is why. Why did you confess to a crime you didn't commit?"

"Why did the West Memphis Three confess to a crime they didn't commit?" She asked rhetorically.

Rae didn't say anything, but her eyes narrowed, clearly not satisfied with that answer. She let it go anyway. Selina was obviously a woman of many secrets and Rae didn't expect her to be completely forthcoming. She obviously had her reasons, but legally speaking false confessions were common enough that it might not matter.

"Fine. The important thing here is that if you didn't commit these murders then someone else did."

"Nice detective work, Sherlock. Did you figure that out on your own?" Selina said.

"There's something else," Rae continued ignoring Selina's sarcasm. "Let's say this does get retried. I'd say the odds of you being let go are fifty-fifty. We can provide all the alibis in the world and knock out every piece of evidence, but criminal court is a storytelling contest. Juries are fickle, and they don't like things to go unresolved."

"What are you saying?" Bruce asked.

"What I'm saying is it won't be enough to say that you didn't do it. If you didn't do it, then who did?"

"I don't know," Selina said without hesitating.

She made a promise and she wouldn't let Holly go down for this.

"Selina." Bruce sounded angry.

"Bruce." It was Selina's turn to shoot a dirty look.

Rae looked from Selina to Bruce back to Selina again. They both had tense, hard to read expressions.

She scoffed. "Oh, I get it. You're covering up for someone else."

Selina was silent.

"I'll take your silence as a 'yes'. Look I'm not going to waste my time trying to win back your freedom if you don't want to for yourself. If you know who did this then you have to turn them in."

Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed exhaustedly.

"Is that it then? There has to be another way." He said, already knowing that this was headed towards a dead end.

Rae leaned back in her chair and shrugged. "You can't have it both ways. You can't clear your name and whoever it is you're protecting. I'm confident that I get the conviction overturned but I'll need a name."

"No," Selina said defiantly still staring at Bruce.

"Then I can't help you. If you want to spend the rest of your life on the run that's your choice."

"You people are useless," Selina said standing up suddenly, the chair screeching across the aged titles as she did.

"Is this what you pay $360 an hour for?" She said to Bruce on her way out.

She slammed the door slightly behind her. Selina dipped into the storage room where she had stashed her disguise. She knew going in that trying to clear her name through legal channels was a pointless endeavor as she had tried to explain to Bruce when they had discussed it the day before. They knew what she needed to do; at least she did.

It instigated a heated argument between them. It was the first time they had fought the entire time they had been married. It was the first time Bruce had ever really raised his voice at her. It unnerved them both. They were already starting to see the cracks in their world. They laid in the dark in silence, unable to sleep.

Eventually Selina did what she always did: she ran. She was suffocating on the tension and needed to be alone to clear her head. Bruce said nothing while she slipped her suit on in the dark and headed out into the night. He didn't even look at her. She wasn't used to him being genuinely upset with her. That troubled her. The ghost of unease followed her around for the rest of the night.

Selina realized her plan was without a doubt risky. Crazy even, but what other choice did she have. She didn't like having to confer to Bruce about her life. She could do whatever she pleased; consequences be damned. But it was his life too. It wasn't until she met Bruce that Selina knew what it was like to be truly appreciated in a relationship. She had never thought happiness was in the cards for her. She had made so many mistakes in her life, she wasn't even sure she deserved happiness. But there he was not only telling her she deserved to be happy but offering it to her, and he was right. She had never known such plain and simple contentment than in the year that they had been married. She could let all that come to end just like that, and marriage was, after all, a compromise, right?

So, she compromised. When Selina came back to the manor she agreed to meet with Bruce's stupid lawyer with no expectations that it would be useful, just to conciliate her husband. She held up her end of the bargain and now he would have to do the same.

A soft knock at the door broke Selina from her reverie. Bruce opened the door slightly without waiting for an answer. They both said nothing as they rode the elevator back down to lobby.

"Bruce," Selina said finally as the silver elevator doors slowly parted. "We tried it your way. Now we do it my way."

xXx

"And that's all you really need to know about that. So that concludes our tour." Agent Campbell said. "When Colonel Trevor asks for you, you drop whatever you're doing and go. When she asks for you, you stop doing whatever Trevor told you to do and run. Understand?"

Agent Myers nodded.

"Good."

The A.R.G.U.S. station had been very quiet lately, but the powers that be still deemed it necessary to have two patrollers in every quadrant surveying the premises every night. Campbell and Myers continued their patrol in silence, the sound of the heavy boots echoing in the otherwise empty halls.

"Sector eight secured" Myers said into the walkie on her shoulder.

She typed in the passcode on the sliding door, when suddenly there was a bang from somewhere down the hall.

"I'll check it out," Campbell said after nothing appeared.

Campbell raised his weapon, and slowly proceeded back down the hall. Myers watched from a distance as he stopped just short of the corner and peered around the corner.

"I don't see anything" he yelled back.

Myers was about to tell him to forget it when suddenly a thick strap wrapped around her neck and yanked her backwards sending her to the floor. The sudden attack made her yelp and drop her weapon.

"Myers!" She heard Campbell yell along with the thundering boots running down the hall.

Before Campbell could reach her, the door slid closed. Myers quickly rolled onto her stomach, attempting to reach for her weapon. Something wrapped tightly around her wrist and pulled her arm backwards.

"Argh!"

She felt the hard barrel of a gun pressed against her temple.

"Don't even think about it," a female voice told her. "Up."

Myers put her hands up and slowly got to her feet the gun still pressed against the side of her head.

"Hello Campbell! Good to see you again. How's the hubby?"

"Catwoman, open the door," Campbell said calmly from the other side of the door.

Selina raised her foot and sent it into the keypad on her side of door, smashing it under her boot. The now tangled pile of wires spit out a few sparks before short circuiting, rendering it inoperable.

"Campbell, it was nice to see you again," she said, breathlessly wrapping her arm around Myers' neck, the gun still in her other hand. "But gotta go. Girl talk."

Selina knew that she had only bought herself a few minutes. Hopefully that was all she'd need. She quickly led Myers down the hall and around the corner. Myers struggled to keep up with her pace with her arm wrapped against her neck.

"Wha-" Myers tried to ask.

"Sorry dear, it's nothing personal. Besides it's not you I want," She said stopping in front of the door at the end of the hall. "It's your boss."

Myers recognized it as Amanda Waller's, the director of A.R.G.U.S., office.

"Open it," Catwoman instructed.

Without hesitating Myers punched in the over-ride code into the keypad. Catwoman shoved her into the room. Amanda Waller was seated at her desk in the back of the office. She didn't appear at all phased by the sudden intrusion.

"Catwoman, long time no see," She said barely glancing up from whatever she had been reading at her desk.

"How've you been Waller? Recruiting more suckers to do your nefarious bidding I see."

"I seem to recall that you were one of those suckers not too long ago," Amanda said dryly. "I can get J'onzz down here if you're-for God's sake Myers, put your hands down. It's not loaded."

Selina let her arm drop and a faint red blush ran across Myers' cheeks. Amanda just silently shook her head in annoyance. If there was anything Amanda Waller couldn't tolerate it was the incompetence of low-level A.R.G.U.S. agents. Myers angrily snatched the probably fake gun out of Catwoman's hand.

"C'mon I'm taking you down to holding," she said mustering up the last remnants of her dignity and trying to sound intimidating.

"No," Amanda said before Selina could say something snarky in response. "Leave us. And tell Campbell to call off the lock down. We will be discussing our security protocols, or lack thereof, in the future."

Myers, looking like a scolded child, left without another word.

"Oh, don't be so hard on them," Selina said sliding into the chair across from Waller's desk. "Breaking and entering is kind of my specialty, as you know."

"What do you want, Catwoman?" Her voice was even.

"Well I was just in the neighborhood, you know reminiscing about the good ole days and thought I'd just drop in for a friendly chat with my good friend Amanda Waller."

Waller scoffed. "I believe you said the day we met that befriending me would be akin to befriending a jackal and that I should keep in mind the nature of our relationship was a mere business arrangement and nothing more."

"Does no one have a sense of humor anymore?"

"As I explained, before you unceremoniously quit the JLA, you didn't complete the assignment, so we didn't hold up our end of the deal. So, I have no sympathy if some prosecutor is trying to indict you on charges that we would've wiped from your record if you had stayed."

"It's water under the bridge."

Amanda looked up at Catwoman. She folded her hands in front of her and seemed to just be studying her. It unnerved Selina, but she managed to keep her discomfort from showing on her face. Even without Bruce's warning, she had seen Waller in action during her brief tenure on the JLA. Amanda Waller was a wolf in sheep's clothing. Intimidating, formidable, and downright ruthless. She was always a dozen steps ahead of her opponents and plotted like a sociopath. Selina had a feeling she had been expecting her visit this whole time.

"Oh? Should I wager a guess why you're here then. You obviously need something from me." Amanda said after a long pause, "You know if you'd just turn your friend in you could solve your damn problems all on your own."

Selina bristled. "How did you-"

"I make it my business to know. Holly Robinson," she sniffed. "If she so much as puts a toe outside of the Khadymian border they'll be keeping an eye on her."

"Leave her out of this," Selina sneered.

Amanda shrugged. "If she becomes a problem it's a problem for the feds. I have bigger concerns than some wannabe assassin from the nobody-cares part of Gotham City."

"Why don't we just cut to the chase then."

"I thought we were having a friendly chat?"

"It doesn't feel so friendly," Selina said, her eyes narrowing.

Selina could tell that she was enjoying making her squirm. A cold smirk ran across Amanda's lips.

"There's no need for the hostility, Catwoman. As a matter of fact, I'm glad you came. Believe it or not during your time with the JLA I found you to be...useful and not completely incompetent. The way I see it this can be a mutually beneficial arrangement."

"So, you can do it?"

"What? Get your murder conviction overturned?" Amanda snorted. "Is that all you want?"

Selina sighed. "And you can do it without implicating Holly? How? I looked into it and I was told that it was impossible. Legally speaking."

"Is that what your husband's over-paid lawyer told you? Why don't you let me worry about the 'how.' If you were really all that concerned with it being on the up and up, you wouldn't be here right now asking me for my help of all people."

Selina eyes widened at the mention of Bruce. Of course, Waller knew about her and Bruce. At this point she expected that Waller knew everything about her from her social security number to what type of conditioner she used.

"Relax. I couldn't care less about what you and your sugar daddy do in your personal lives." She said noting Selina's slightly horrified expression.

Selina took a deep breath. She was feeling much too exposed these days. She wanted her life to go back to the way they were five days ago before this nightmare began. She wanted to feel the Gotham air on her face with not a care in the world. She wanted to make love to her husband like they were the only two people on the planet that mattered. She wanted to believe that in the end that simple piece of happiness after all the mistakes she had made in her life "was possible for her. That she deserved it. God did Bruce make her believe.

"Don't worry Selina. It'll be just like old times. You do a few high-level missions for me, you'll get that murder conviction overturned, and go on to live happily ever after in Bruce Wayne's castle by the sea. It might even be fun. You're still way too valuable to risk by officially inducting you into the Suicide Squad anyway."

"How generous of you," Selina said.

Selina couldn't believe she was here again. It was five years ago all over when people always expected the worst from her except for what she could do to benefit them. True; the JLA was a league above Waller's personal task force, the appropriately nicknamed Suicide Squad, but she felt like she was being held hostage nonetheless. Wonder Woman's boy toy, Steve Trevor, showed up out of the blue and offered to wipe her record clean in exchange for exclusive membership into the JLA. All she ever wanted was a second chance. To not be defined by past and there they were dangling it in front of her. They promised her the missions would be non-life threatening and "ethical" as Waller had put it. How could she say no. Sure, they did some good work together but no matter how hard she worked, other members treated her like she was nothing more than an irredeemable thief. Of course, they had no problem using those skills to their advantage, which left Selina feeling exploited.

It also didn't take long for Selina to realize that Waller's true interest in her was to use her as a tool to hold over Batman if need be. Waller knew he had a weak spot for her. Even without the rumors about his relationship with her, why else hadn't he ever arrested her? Where Selina had been willing to endure the JLA's painfully low expectations of her character in exchange for a second chance, she refused to play the role of collateral in Amanda Waller's anti-super agenda.

Freedom, it seemed, was always just beyond her reach.

Still what Amanda had said was true: she did need her help. Though the idea of going to Amanda Waller hat in hand and asking for a favor made Selina want to claw out her own eyeballs, she had no other choice. When she and Bruce first got married they brainstormed a list of ideas of what to do in the case that their marriage became public. Cutting a deal with Satan-incarnate was Selina's only contribution. She knew in her heart this was the only way to get out of it with no loose strings. Bruce wouldn't hear of it, and she knew he would be mad when he found out that she was doing this behind his back, but he'd just have to find a way forgive her. He always did.

"So," Amanda said after deciding that Selina had had enough time to consider her offer. "Do we have a deal?"


End file.
